[Comicsstudiessociety] IJOCA review opportunity - Maximilian Uriarte's full-length graphic novel, BATTLE BORN: Lapis Lazuli

[Mike Rhode]

*Available digitally to the first person who writes directly to me at
mrhode at gmail.com <mrhode at gmail.com>* . We'll run the review on the blog as
soon as it's ready and in print in the Winter 2020 issue of the journal.
Mike



Infantry Marine and Iraq veteran *Maximilian Uriarte*, creator of the hit
comic strip *Terminal Lance*, latest full-length graphic novel, *BATTLE
BORN: Lapis Lazuli, *publishes July 28, and it's a return to form for the *New
York Times *bestselling author of THE WHITE DONKEY.



*BATTLE BORN* is a "thrillingly cinematic" (*Publishers Weekly*),
gorgeously illustrated epic saga from the voice of a new generation of
military veterans. I'd love to send a finished copy of the book over to
you, and hope we can stay in touch about possibilities for coverage, or
setting up an interview with Max. More information below, and thank you for
your time,







“*A tragic meditation *on the value of honor and justice in a world ruled
by violence.”*—Library Journal*



“Uriarte’s illustrations are* lush and vivid *with an* appealing
manga-tinted realism*. The effect is* sumptuously cinematic.”**—Kirkus*



“*Thrillingly cinematic…This visceral war *story reinforces the difficulty
of decisions by forces fighting across blurred lines.” *—Publishers Weekly*



“Uriarte’s *manga-derived graphic chops and storytelling technique have
grown immensely* since The White Donkey; his deliberate pacing, especially
in the book’s final sequences, is *daringly bold*. But the *combat-based
verisimilitude he brings… is its strongest element*.”*—Booklist*







The hotly anticipated* BATTLE BORN: Lapis Lazuli*

(Voracious/Little, Brown; July 28, 2020) is the latest graphic novel and a

return to form for *New York Times* bestselling author and creator of the
military’s
<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/ULhOCmZ0MZtRvRV8uGsAar?domain=urldefense.com>

most popular comic strip, Terminal Lance
<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/ULhOCmZ0MZtRvRV8uGsAar?domain=urldefense.com>,
*Maximilian Uriarte*.

His debut full-length graphic novel, THE WHITE DONKEY, was an honest,

hilarious, and compulsively page-turning tribute to the experience of war
and

PTSD and the first graphic novel about the war in Iraq from a veteran.

Originally funded via Kickstarter, Max’s initial 3,000-copy run sold out in
a

mere 36 hours, and Little, Brown’s acquisition of THE WHITE DONKEY
catapulted

it to the *New York Times* bestseller list. It was published to instant,

universal praise and went on to be named one of the* Los Angeles Times*’s

10 Most Important Books of 2016.



*BATTLE BORN* is a heartbreaking and visceral graphic

novel set against the stark beauty of Afghanistan's mountain villages that

examines prejudice and the military remnants of colonialism. Lapis Lazuli
is a

rich blue semiprecious gemstone found deep in the Sar-i-sang mountains of

Afghanistan's Badakhshan province. For thousands of years it has sustained
the

nearby mining villages, whose inhabitants lived peacefully in the
mountainous

landscape--until the Taliban, known in the region as the Horsemen, came to
seek

the riches stored deep beneath the earth. Taliban rule has turned the stone

into a conflict mineral, as they steal and sell it for their own gain.



At the behest of the fledgling Afghan government, seeking to

wrest back control of the province, United States Marines are sent into the

mountains. A platoon led by their eager and naive commander, First
Lieutenant

Roberts, and a stoic, fierce squad leader, Sergeant King, must overcome

barriers of language and culture in this remote region to win the locals'

trust, and their freedom from Taliban rule. Along the way, they must also

wrestle with their demons--and face unimaginably difficult choices.



A sweeping yet intimate story about brutality, kindness, and

the remnants of colonialism, *Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli *is an epic saga

from the voice of a new generation of military veterans.
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